Brigade 2506
Brigade 2506 (Brigada Asalto 2506) was the name given to a CIA-sponsored group of Cuban exiles formed in 1960 to attempt the military overthrow of the Cuban government headed by Fidel Castro. It carried out the abortive Bay of Pigs Invasion landings in Cuba on 17 April 1961. See Main article: Bay of Pigs Invasion History In May 1960, the CIA began to recruit anti-Castro Cuban exiles in the Miami area. For most recruits, infantry training was carried out at a CIA-run base code-named JMTrax near Retalhuleu in the Sierra Madre on the Pacific coast of Guatemala. In November 1960, with 430 men in training, the leaders of the brigade were chosen, and the group was named Brigade 2506, using the membership number of Carlos (Carlyle) Rafael Santana Estevez, who had died in a training accident in September 1960.Johnson (1964), p.47 The principal commanders were appointed as followsThomas (1971), p.581Fernandez (2001), p.101 : * Manuel Francisco Artime Buesa: political leader * José Alfredo 'Pepe' Pérez San Román: military commander * Erneido Andrés Oliva Gonzalez: military second-in-command * Manuel Villafaña Martinez: commander of the air force * Alejandro del Valle Marti: 1st paratroop battalion * Hugo Sueiro Ríos: 2nd infantry battalion * Noelio Montero Díaz: 3rd battalion * Valentín 'Pipo' Bacallao Ponte: 4th armoured battalion * Ricardo Montero Duque: 5th infantry battalion * Francisco Montiel (Maciera) Rivera: 6th infantry battalion * Roberto Pérez San Román: heavy gun battalion * Ramon J. Ferrer Mena: chief of staff * Enrique Ruiz Williams Alfert * Higinio Nino Díaz Ane About 2,680 names are known for members of the brigade.List of Participants Of The Bay Of Pigs Invasion (cuban-exile.com) About 1,334 men travelled on the seaborne force, of which about 1,297 actually landed in Cuba, plus an additional 177 airborne paratroops. An estimated 114 drowned or were killed in action, and 1,183 were captured, tried and imprisoned. Private sympathizers in the United States eventually negotiated to give $53 million worth of food and drugs in exchange for release and repatriation of Brigade prisoners to Miami starting on 23 December 1962. On 29 December 1962, President John F. Kennedy hosted a 'welcome back' ceremony for captured Brigade 2506 veterans at the Orange Bowl in Miami. Some of its members have gone on to found the Brigade 2506 Veteran's Association which controls the Bay of Pigs Museum & Library in Miami. Thomas (1971) Among the brigade members were: *Lorenzo (CABALLO LOCO) Serrano-Perez *Felix Candido Beruvides BallesterosMiami News Aug 20, 1987 *Orlando Bosch *Jorge Más Canosa *Luis Posada Carriles *Jose Antonio Llama *Bernard Barker *Félix Rodríguez (Central Intelligence Agency) *Sergio Gilberto Díaz *Alfredo Gonzalez Duran *Raul Masvidal *Orlando Atienza *Anibal P. Naranjo *Hiram Gomez Notes See also *War against the Bandits *Bay of Pigs Invasion *Cuban exile *Cuban dissident movement References *Fernandez, Jose Ramon. 2001. Playa Giron/Bay of Pigs: Washington's First Military Defeat in the Americas. Pathfinder ISBN 0-87348-925-X ISBN 9780873489256 *Johnson, Haynes. 1964,1974. The Bay of Pigs: The Leaders' Story of Brigade 2506. W.W. Norton & Co Inc. New York. ISBN 0-393-04263-4 *Thomas, Hugh. 1971, 1986. The Cuban Revolution. Weidenfeld and Nicolson. London. (Shortened version of Cuba: The Pursuit of Freedom, includes all history 1952-1970) ISBN 0-297-79037-4 ISBN 0-297-78954-6 *Wyden, Peter. 1979. Bay of Pigs - The Untold Story. Simon and Schuster. New York. ISBN 0-671-24006-4 ISBN 0224017543 ISBN 978-0-671-24006-6 External links *Bay of Pigs and Brigade 2506 *The Process of The Bay of Pigs *Brigade 2506 *Bay of Pigs Museum & Library Category:Central Intelligence Agency Category:Opposition to Fidel Castro Category:Cuba–United States relations de:Brigade 2506 es:Brigada de Asalto 2506 fr:Brigade 2506 ru:Бригада 2506 tr:2506. Tugay